Easter Eggs

Eggs play an important role at Easter as they symbolise the return to abundance after the hardship of Lent.

On Easter Sunday, French children eagerly awake to discover eggs scattered in their rooms. Then, it's off to the garden to search for beautifully decorated Easter eggs hidden in "nests".

And then the fun really starts! The smaller children play a game where they throw raw eggs up in the air and try to catch them. The first one to drop their egg loses. Sometimes, the losers have to pay a penalty such as giving some of their Easter treats away to their brother or sister.

The contest of rolling raw eggs down a gentle slope is another old French Easter custom. The surviving egg is declared the winner and symbolises the stone being rolled away from the tomb of the Christ.